The new BMW M3

1. Description in Brief. 2 2. Short Version 4 3. Concept: Technology
from Motorsport, Aesthetic Beauty for Everyday Motoring. 12 4. Power
Unit: The Thrill of a V8 - Muscle Machine with an Ideal Body. 17 5.
Chassis and Suspension: Turning Superior Performance into Supreme
Dynamics. 24 6. Design: The Expression of Perfect Concept Harmony. 30 7.
Body, Safety, Model Features: Uncompromising Driving Pleasure of the
Highest Standard. 36 8. Production: Exclusive Quality Built in Flexible
Production Friendly to the Environment. 43 9. Specifications. 49 10.
Exterior and Interior Dimensions. 50 11. Output and Torque Diagram. 52
The concept looks back at a long tradition, the result is unique every
time: For more than two decades, the BMW M3 has ranked alone as the
epitome of ultimate dynamism derived directly from motorsport, a car
offering powerful and superior aesthetics, as well as a truly
incomparable driving experience. And now the new version of this
high-performance sports car is ready to go - perfectly prepared to find
the ideal line not only on the race track. Like its predecessors, the
fourth-generation BMW M3 sets new standards in technology and driving
dynamics. And at the same time, like all high-performance models from
BMW M GmbH, the new BMW M3 offers all the qualities required for
everyday driving enjoyment of the highest calibre. The new BMW M3 is
based on the BMW 3 Series Coupé, but is nevertheless quite
unique in its looks and technical features. The engine, for example, is
an exclusive development precisely for this model, with the chassis,
suspension and body all based consistently on the requirements of
motorsport. So leaving aside just a few components, the new BMW M3 is
a brand-new car from the ground up. The aesthetic design of the body
again typical of BMW M and the drivetrain technology conceived from the
start for supreme performance - clear proof of the competence of the
car development engineers at BMW M GmbH with their close ties to
motorsport - spell out supremacy of the highest standard. In a
nutshell, therefore, the new BMW M3 is a car built to be a winner, a car
always able to prove its superiority also in everyday traffic. Making
its debut in the BMW M3: eight-cylinder power unit with 420 hp. The
truly impressive "heart" of the new BMW M3 is the car's
brand-new eight-cylinder power unit in V-arrangement combining
outstanding power and performance with unique dynamism. Displacing
3,999 cc, the new V8 develops maximum output of 309 kW/420 hp. Maximum
torque, in turn, is 400 Newton-metres or 295 lb-ft at an engine speed
of 3,900 rpm. And perhaps an even more impressive fact is that some 85
per cent of this maximum torque is available consistently throughout
the enormous speed range of 6,500 rpm. The new BMW M3 accelerates
from 0-100 km/h in 4.8 seconds and has a top speed limited
electronically of 250 km/h or 155 mph. The eight-cylinder power unit
owes its perhaps most striking feature to the high-speed engine concept
again typical of BMW M: Maximum engine speed of 8,400 rpm gives the
engine supreme thrust and torque at all times. This power is
transmitted to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox in
conjunction with brand-new final drive featuring BMW's Variable M
Limited-Slip Differential. Over and above the engine's specific
output of 105 hp per litre, average fuel consumption in the EU test
cycle of just 12.4 litres/100 kilometres (equal to 22.8 mpg imp) bears
clear testimony to the supreme engineering that has gone into this
equally supreme car. Know-how carried over from Formula 1 in
production, construction, and the choice of materials. The engine
block of the new eight-cylinder comes from BMW's light-alloy foundry in
Landshut north of Munich, which also builds the engine blocks for the
Grand Prix cars raced by the BMW Sauber F1 Team. The crankcase is made
of a special aluminium-silicon alloy. It is both compact and extremely
strong and torsionally resistant in its bedplate design. Despite the
two extra cylinders, the entire power unit is approximately 15 kg or 33
lb lighter than the six-cylinder engine featured on the former model.
The V8 power unit of the new BMW M3 is equipped with variable
double-VANOS camshaft control, a unique technology reducing losses in
the charge cycle and thus improving power and torque in the process.
Responding extremely quickly to the driver's commands, double-VANOS
improves the spontaneity of the engine at all times, thus also helping
to reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. The engineers at BMW
M have developed a low-pressure version of double-VANOS specifically
for the new eight-cylinder, operating at the regular operating pressure
of the engine's oil circuit. A further feature of the new power unit
is the use of eight individual throttle butterflies giving the engine a
particularly smooth and sensitive response throughout the entire speed
range and enabling the driver to call up the superior power of the
engine directly and smoothly at all times. A volume flow-controlled
pendulum-slide vane pump supplies the eight-cylinder with lubricating
oil, the amount of oil delivered to the engine always being geared
precisely to what the engine needs at the given point in time. Wet
sump lubrication optimised for driving dynamics, finally, ensures an
adequate supply of oil to the power unit even in extreme braking
manoeuvres and under high centrifugal forces in a fast bend. New
engine management and Brake Energy Regeneration. Yet another new
development is the electronic management of the V8 power unit
integrating the clutch, gearbox, steering and brake functions tailored
specifically to the requirements of a BMW M Car. And then, as a further
highlight of engine management, ion flow technology serves to detect any
tendency of the engine to knock as well as misfiring and mis-combustion.
Intelligent energy management featuring Brake Energy Regeneration
enhances the efficiency of the power unit to an even higher standard:
This new system generates electricity for the car's on-board network
only in overrun and while applying the brakes, with the alternator
generally being disconnected as long as the engine is in traction,
"pulling" the car. Apart from particularly efficient
generation of electric power, this process also helps to provide extra
drive power when accelerating.